which all men have naturally of supporting | sale of her commodities, to pay the duties or. the honor of their own government, that sense of dignity, and that security to property, which ever attends freedom, has a tendency to increase the stock of the free community. Most may be taken where most is accumulated. And what is the soil or climate where experience has not uniformly proved, that for the voluntary flow of heaped up plenty, bursting from the weight of its own rich luxuriance, has ever run with a more copious stream of revenue, than could be squeezed from the dry husks of oppressed indigence, by the straining of all the political machinery in the world. Next we know that parties must ever exist in a free country. We know too, that the emulations of such parties, their contradictions, their reciprocal necessities, their hopes, and their fears must send them all in their turns to him that holds the balance of the state. The parties are the gamesters; but government keeps the table, and is sure to be the winner in the end. When this game is played, I really think it is more to be feared, that the people will be exhausted, than that government will not be supplied. Whereas, whatever is got by acts of absolute power ill obeyed, because odious, or by contract ill kept, because constrained, will be narrow, feeble, uncertain, and precarious. "Ease would retract vows made in pain, as violent and void." I, for one protest against compounding our demands; I declare against compounding, for a poor limited sum, the immense, ever growing, eternal debt, which is due to generous government from protected freedom. And so may I speed in the great object I propose to you, as I think it would not only be an act of injustice, but would be the worst economy in the world, to compel the colonies to a certain sum, either in the way of ransom, or in the way of compulsory compact. But to clear up my ideas on this subject. a revenue from America transmitted hither-do not delude yourselves—you never can receive it-no, not a shilling. We have experienced that, from remote countries, it is not to be expected. If, when you attempted to extract a revenue from Bengal, you were obliged to return in iron what you had taken in imposition, what can you expect from North America? For certain if ever there was a country qualified to produce wealth, it is India; or an institution fit for the transmission, it is the East-India company. America has none of these aptitudes. If America gives you taxable objects, on which you lay your duties here, and gives you at the same time, a surplus by a foreign these objects, which you tax at home, she has performed her part to the British revenue. But with regard to her own internal establishments, she may, I do not doubt she will, contribute in moderation, I say in moderation; for she ought not to be permitted to exhaust herself. She ought to be reserved to a war; the weight of which, with the enemies that we are most likely to have, must be considerable in her quarter of the globe. There she may serve you, and serve you essentially. For that service, for all service, whether of revenue, trade, or empire, my trust is in her interest in the British constitution. My hold of the colonies is in the close affection which grows from common names, from kindred blood, from similar privileges, and equal protection. These are ties which though light as air, are as strong as links of iron. Let the colonies always keep the idea of their civil rights associated with your government; they will cling and grapple to you; and no force under Heaven will be of power to tear them from their allegiance. But let it once be understood, that your government may be one thing, and their privileges another, that these two things may exist without any mutual relation, the cement is gone; the cohesion is loosened; and every thing hastens to decay and dissolution. As long as you have wisdom to keep the sovereign authority of this country as the sanctuary of liberty, the sacred temple consecrated to our common faith, wherever the chosen race and sons of England worship freedom, they will turn their faces towards you. The more they multiply, the more friends you will have; the more ardently they love liberty, the more perfect will be their obedience. Slavery they can have any where. It is a weed that grows in every soil. They may have it from Spain, they may have it from Prussia. But until you become lost to all feeling of your true interest, and your natural dignity, freedom they can have from none but you. This is the commodity of price, of which you have the monopoly. This is the true act of navigation, which binds to you the commerce of the colonies, and through them secures to you the wealth of the world. Deny them this participation of freedom and you break that sole bond, which originally made, and must still preserve, the unity of the empire. Do not entertain so weak an imagination, as that your registers and your bonds, your affidavits and your suffrances, your cock-> ets and clearances, are what form the great securities of your commerce. Do not dream, that your letters of office, and your instructions, you, "That the colonies and plantations of Great Britain, in North America, consisting of fourteen separate governments and containing two not had the right and privilege of electing and sending their knights and burgesses, or others, to represent in the high court of parliament.' Upon this resolution the previous question was put, and carried; for the previous question 270, against it 78. and your suspending classes are the things | full confidence of this unalterable truth, I now that hold together the great contexture of this (quod felix faustumque sit) lay the first mysterious whole. These things do not make | stone of the temple of peace; and I move to your government. Dead instruments, passive tools as they are, it is the spirit of English communion that gives all their life and efficacy to them. It is the spirit of the English constitution which, infused through the mighty mass, per-millions and upwards of free inhabitants, have vades, feeds, invigorates, vivifies, every part of the empire, even down to the minutest members. Is it not the same virtue which does everything for us here in England? Do you imagine then, that it is the land tax act which raises your revenue? that it is the annual vote in the committee of supply, which gives you your army? or that it is the mutiny bill which inspires it with bravery and discipline? No! surely no! It is the love of the people, it is their attachment to their government, from the sense of the deep stake they have in such a glorious institution, which gives you your army and your navy, and infuses into both that liberal obedience, without which your army would be a base rabble, and your navy nothing but rotten timber. All this, I know well enough, will sound wild and chimerical to the profane herd of those vulgar and mechanical politicians, who have no place among us; a sort of people who think that nothing exists but what is gross and material; and who therefore, far from being qualified to be directors of the great movement of empire, are not fit to turn a wheel in the machine. But to men truly initiated and rightly taught, these ruling and master principles, which, in the opinion of such men as I have mentioned, have no substantial existence, are in truth everything, and all in all. Magnanimity in politics is not seldom the truest wis- | dom; and a great empire and little minds go ill together. If we are conscious of our situation, and glow with zeal to fill our place as becomes our station and ourselves, we ought to auspicate all our public proceedings on America, with the old warning of the church, sursum corda! We ought to elevate our minds to the greatness of that trust to which the order of Providence has called us. By adverting to the dignity of this high calling, our ancestors have turned a savage wilderness into a glorious empire; and have made the most extensive, and the only honorable conquests; not by destroying, but by promoting, the wealth, the number, the happiness, of the human race. Let us get an American revenue as we have got an American empire. English privileges have made it all that it is; English privileges alone will make it all it can be. In GOVERNOR PENN, LATE OF PENNSYLVANIA. HIS EXAMINA- SATURDAY, November 11, 1775. HOUSE OF LORDS. The lords were yesterday assembled for the purposes of examining governor Penn, and of discussing a motion which the duke of Richmond proposed to ground on such information as that gentleman should afford the house. Previous to the calling of Mr. Penn to the bar, the duke of Richmond announced the mode he had adopted preparatory to the governor's examination. His grace confessed, "That he had apprised Mr. Penn of the questions which would be propounded to him, but the noble duke disclaimed having entered into any sort of conversation with the governor, lest such conversation should be malevolently construed into a design of anticipating the answers Mr. Penn might think proper to return." The duke of Richmond having finished his preliminary remarks, Mr. Penn was called to the bar, and interrogated nearly to the following purport: Q. How long had he resided in America ? A. Four years. Two of those years in the capacity of governor of Pennsylvania. Q. Was he acquainted with any of the members of the continental congress? A. He was personally acquainted with all the members of that congress. Q. In what estimation was the congress held? A. In the highest veneration imaginable by all ranks and orders of men. Q. Was an implicit obedience paid to the resolutions of that congress throughout all the provinces ? A. He believed this to be the case. Q. How many men had been raised through- | sylvania, he was sure this was the case; for the out the province of Pennsylvania? other provinces, he replied in the affirmative from information only. A. Twenty thousand effective men had voluntarily enrolled themselves to enter into actual service if necessity required. Q. Of what rank, quality and condition were these persons? Q. Did he suppose that the congress contained delegates fairly nominated by the choice of the people? A. He had no doubt but that the congress did A. Men of the most respectable character in contain delegates chosen under this description. the province. Q. Were not a considerable number of them entirely destitute of property? A. It was presumed that, subtracted from so large a number as 20,000, there were some necessitous, but the major part were in flourishing situations. Q. Besides those 20,000, who voluntarily enrolled themselves to act as exigencies might require, what other forces had the provincials of Pennsylvania raised ? A. Four thousand minute-men, whose duty was pointed out by their designation. They were to be ready for service at a minute's warning. Q. Did the province of Pennsylvania grow corn sufficient for the supply of its inhabitants? A. Much more than sufficient, there was a surplus for exportation if required. Q. Were they capable of making gunpowder in Pennsylvania? A. They perfectly well understood the art, and had effected it. Q. By what mode were the delegates in congress appointed? A. By the votes of assemblies in some places, by ballot in others. Q. In what light had the petition, which the witness had presented to the king, been considered by the Americans? A. The petition had been considered as an olive branch, and the witness had been complimented by his friends, as the messenger of peace. Q. On the supposition that the prayer of this petition should be rejected, what did the witness imagine would be the consequence? A. That the Americans, who placed much reliance on the petition, would be driven to desperation by its non-success. Q. Did the witness imagine, that sooner than yield to what were supposed to be unjust claims of Great Britain, the Americans would take the desperate resolution of calling in the aid of foreign assistance? A. The witness was apprehensive that this Q. Could salt-petre be made in the pro- would be the case. vince ? A. It could; mills and other instruments for effecting such an undertaking had been erected with success. Q. What did the witness recollect of the stamp act? A. That it caused great uneasiness throughout America. Q. What did the witness recollect, concern Q. Could cannon be cast in Pennsylvania ? A. The art of casting cannon had been caring repeal of that act? ried to great perfection; they were amply furnished with iron for that purpose. Q. Could small arms be made to any degree of perfection? A. To as great a degree of perfection as could be imagined. The workmanship employed in finishing the small arms was universally admired for its excellence. Q. Were the Americans expert in ship-building? A. More so than the Europeans. Q. To what extent of tonnage did the largest of their shipping amount? A. A ship of about three hundred tons was the largest they were known to build. Q. Circumstanced as things at present were, did the witness think, that the language of the congress expressed the sense of the people in America in general? A. The anniversary of that memorable day is kept throughout America, by every testimony of public rejoicing, such as bonfires, illuminations, and other exhibitions of gladness. Q. Would not the neglect with which the last petition was treated induce the Americans to resign all hopes of pacific negotiations? A. In the opinion of witness it would. Q. When the witness presented the petition CROSS EXAMINED BY THE LORDS DENBIGH As the witness had acted in the capacity of governor, was he well acquainted with the charter of Pennsylvania? A. He had read the charter, and was well A. As far as the question applied to Penn- acquainted with its contents. Q. Did he know that there was a clause | which specifically subjected the colony to taxation by the British legislature ? A. He was well apprised that there was such a clause. Q. Were the people of Pennsylvania content with their charter ? A. Perfectly content. Q. Then did they not acquiesce in the right of the British parliament to enforce taxation? A. They acquiesced in a declaration of the right so long as they experienced no inconvenience from the declaration. QUERIES FROM LORD SANDWICH. Q. Had the witness ever heard of an act entitled, “The declaratory act?" A. He had heard of such an act. Q. Did he ever peruse, and was he sufficiently acquainted with the contents of that act? A. He never had perused it. It never had been much discussed whilst he resided in America. A. Did the witness apprehend that the congress acquiesced in an act which maintained the authority of the British parliament in all cases whatsoever? Objected to, and the witness was desired to withdraw; but being called in again, the question was put, and he replied: That, except in the case of TAXATION, he apprehended the Americans would have no objection to acknowledge the sovereignty of Great Britain. Q. Had the witness any knowledge of certain resolutions passed by the county of Suffolk ? A. He had not attended to them. Q. Had the witness any knowledge of an answer given by the continental congress, to what had been commonly called lord North's conciliatory motion ? A. The witness knew nothing of the proceedings of the congress, they were generally transacted under the seal of secrecy. Q. Was the witness personally acquainted with Mr. Harrison, a member of the congress? A. The witness knew him well. Q. What character did he bear? A. A very respectable one. Q. Had the witness ever heard of any persons who had suffered persecutions, for declaring sentiments favorable to the supremacy of the British parliament ? provinces, but never met with them during his residence in Pennsylvania. Q. In the opinion of the witness, were the Americans now free? A. They imagined themselves to be so. Q. In case a formidable force should be sent to America, in support of government, did the witness imagine there were many who would openly profess submission to the authority of parliament? A. The witness apprehended the few who would join on such occasion would be too trivial a number to be of any consequence. Mr. Penn was then ordered to withdraw, and the duke of Richmond, after descanting with singular propriety on the necessity of immediate conciliation, proposed the last petition from the continental congress to the king, as a basis for a plan of accommodation. His grace of Richmond moved, "That the preceding paper furnished grounds of conciliation of the unhappy differences at present subsisting between Great Britain and America, and that some mode should be immediately adopted, for the effectuating so desirable a purpose." This produced a debate supported on both sides with infinite ingenuity. The numbers were: For the motion 27-Proxies 6- -33 WILLIAM PITT-EARL OF CHATHAM. HIS CELEBRATED SPEECH DELIVERED IN THE HOUSE OF LORDS, On a motion for an address to his majesty to give immediate orders for removing his troops from Boston, forthwith, in order to quiet the minds and take away the apprehensions of his good subjects in America, December 20, 1775. My lords-After more than six weeks possession of the papers now before you, on a subject so momentous, at a time when the fate of this nation hangs on every hour, the ministry have at length condescended to submit, to the consideration of the house, intelligence from America, with which your lordships and the public have been long and fully acquainted. The measures of last year, my lords, which have produced the present alarming state of America, were founded upon misrepresentation -they were violent, precipitate and vindictive. A. He had heard of such oppressions in other The nation was told, that it was only a faction in Boston, which opposed all lawful govern- | administration practised against them, I desire ment; that an unwarrantable injury had been ❘ not to be understood to argue for a reciprocity done to private property, for which the justice of indulgence between England and America: of parliament was called upon, to order repa- I contend not for indulgence, but justice, to ration; that the least appearance of firmness America; and I shall ever contend that the would awe the Americans into submission,| Americans owe obedience to us, in a limited and upon only passing the Rubicon we should degree; they owe obedience to our ordinances be fine clade victor. That the people might choose their representatives, under the impression of those misrepresentations, the parliament was precipitately dissolved. Thus the nation was to be rendered instrumental in executing the vengeance of administration on that injured, unhappy, traduced people. But now, my lords, we find, that instead of suppressing the opposition of the faction at Boston, these measures have spread it over the whole continent. They have united that whole people, by the most indissoluble of all bands -intolerable wrongs. The just retribution is an indiscriminate, unmerciful proscription of the innocent with the guilty, unheard and untried. The bloodless victory, is an impotent general, with his dishonored army, trusting solely to the pick-axe and the spade, for security against the just indignation of an injured and insulted people. of trade and navigation; but let the line be skilfully drawn between the objects of those ordinances, and their private, internal property: Let the sacredness of their property remain inviolate; let it be taxable only by their own consent, given in their provincial assemblies, else it will cease to be property: As to the metaphysical refinements attempting to show that the Americans are equally free from obedience to commercial restraints, as from taxation for revenue, as being unrepresented here, I pronounce them futile, frivolous and groundless.-Property is, in its nature, single as an atom. It is indivisible, can belong to one only, and cannot be touched but by his own consent. The law that attempts to alter this disposal of it annihilates it. When I urge this measure for recalling the troops from Boston, I urge it on this pressing principle-that it is necessarily preparatory to the restoration of your prosperity. It will then appear that you are disposed to treat amicably and equitably, and to consider, revise and repeal, if it should be found necessary, as I affirm it will, those violent acts and declarations which have disseminated confusion throughout your empire. Resistance to your acts, was as necessary as it was just; and your vain declarations of the omnipotence of parliament, and your imperious doctrines of the necessity of submission, will be found equally impotent to convince or enslave your fellow subjects in America, who feel that tyranny, whether ambitioned by an individual part of the legislature, or by the bodies which compose it, is equally intolerable to British principles. My lords, I am happy that a relaxation of my infirmities permits me to seize this earliest opportunity of offering my poor advice to save this unhappy country, at this moment tottering to its ruin. But as I have not the honor of access to his majesty, I will endeavor to transmit to him, through the constitutional channel of this house, my ideas on American business, to rescue him from the misadvice of his present ministers. I congratulate your lordships that that business is at last entered upon, by the noble lord's (lord Dartmouth) laying the papers before you. As I suppose your lordships are too well apprised of their contents, I hope I am not premature in submitting to you my present motion (reads the mo- As to the means of enforcing this thraldom, tion). I wish my lords not to lose a day in they are found to be as ridiculous and weak in this urging present crisis: An hour now lost practice, as they were unjust in principle: Inin allaying the ferment in America, may pro- deed I cannot but feel, with the most anxious duce years of calamity: but, for my own part, sensibility, for the situation of general Gage I will not desert for a moment the conduct of and the troops under his command; thinking this mighty business from the first to the last, him, as I do, a man of humanity and underunless nailed to my bed by the extremity of standing, and entertaining, as I ever shall, the sickness; I will give it unremitting attention: highest respect, the warmest love, for the I will knock at the door of this sleeping, or British troops. Their situation is truly unconfounded ministry, and will rouse them to a worthy, pent up, pining in inglorious inactivity. sense of their important danger. When I They are an army of impotence. You may state the importance of the colonies to this | call them an army of safety and of guard; but country, and the magnitude of danger hanging they are in truth an army of impotence and over this country from the present plan of mis- | contempt-and to render the folly equal to |